God's Hands - Reflections by Fellow Rachel Alderfer '17

As a Horizons Fellow, before we graduate, we are required to write our own personal faith statement. I wrote about my place as one of the Lord’s hands.

This past weekend, I unexpectedly ended up in the emergency room with piercing abdominal pain. By the time I left my house to head to the hospital it was 11:00pm and raining. While the timing never seems good to be going to the ER, I was supposed to be heading to the beach the following morning with 5 friends and, at this point, no packing had taken place. The situation was far from ideal. The only thing that kept me going was my totally loving, gracious housemate, Becca. Not only was she the one to convince me that I should head to the ER but she was also there to sit with me for 7 hours, awake and lively, while entirely sleepless. She was the hand rubbing my back in the waiting room, and holding my hand through the examinations.

Recognizing the other “hands” that the Lord has placed in my own life—those that have helped me along the way—inspires and encourages me to serve Him similarly. I pray to be used as the Lord’s hand, however that may look in my day-to-day moments.

My faith statement is as follows:

To be a hand

That gives rest to the foot

That cups the ear

That heals the heart

That dries the eyes

That claps loudly with the other.

That loves the whole body.

To be a hand in the hand of God.

I thank the Lord for giving me precious examples. Thank you, Becca, for being a hand in the hand of God.